Read Online The Unquiet Grave by Steven Dunne - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Steven Dunne
Ads: Link
superior and junior officers, he’d never been so clearly in the wrong. And with the ringing endorsement of the disciplinary panel, his detractors would be able to look down their noses at him for a long time to come.
Brook padded wearily upstairs to bed, expecting no sleep, settled in his decision. Again.
Early that morning Brook tossed his smartcard on the passenger seat, relieved to see the barrier swing up. He hadn’t been to the car park of Derby Division’s headquarters at St Mary’s Wharf in many months, and he’d got it into his head that his parking privileges might have been withdrawn as part of his suspension.
Brook drove under the barrier to park his elderly BMW in the nearest empty bay, aware that, sooner or later, he’d have to run the gauntlet of derisive remarks from local officers. He killed the engine, at least content that the first wave had been postponed; he was hours early for his reinduction meeting. He poured tea from his flask and reclined, eyes closed, on to the cracked leather, listening to the Radio Derby news bulletin in the dark.
The search for Derby schoolboy, Scott Wheeler, continues and, four days after his disappearance on December the seventh, police are no closer to finding out what happened to the thirteen year old.
Scott, who is five feet eight inches tall with striking blond hair and blue eyes, was last seen by school friends at a party in St Chad’s Road, Normanton, last Friday evening at around eight o’clock. He was wearing black jeans, black Nike training shoes, a camouflage T-shirt with matching baseball cap and a blue hoodie with the words RIP CURL on the front.
A pupil at Derby Community School, Scott disappeared during a birthday celebration at the house of classmate Chelsea Chaplin. The party finished at nine p.m. and Scott’s mother, Beverley Wheeler, who lives in nearby Stone Hill Road, went to collect her son but when she arrived at the Chaplin house, Scott had vanished.
According to witnesses, Scott left the party of his own accord, apparently in an agitated state, though police have yet to verify this. So far, there have been no sightings of Scott after he left the house.
Mrs Wheeler said she was unaware of any problems her son might have been having or why he might have been agitated. She told Radio Derby that Scott is a popular young man and there is no suggestion that he was a victim of bullies. However, gang involvement has not been ruled out because Scott is the younger brother of Callum Wheeler, who was convicted last year of racially aggravated assault and wounding in a fight between rival Normanton gangs.
Needless to say, police are desperate to find witnesses to Scott’s disappearance and although there is no direct evidence of abduction, police say it cannot be ruled out.
At this stage, investigators have denied any connection with last year’s murder of Scott Wheeler’s friend and classmate, Joshua Stapleton, who died thirteen months ago, after an evening spent trick or treating with Scott. Joshua’s body was later found on the ground floor of a derelict house in Whitaker Road, Normanton. He had suffered severe head and spinal injuries.
Noel Williams, a fifty-five-year-old vagrant known to shelter at the house, was found guilty of the boy’s manslaughter and began a twenty-year sentence in April this year.
Chief Superintendent Mark Charlton says Derby Constabulary are interviewing everyone connected with the party but they urgently need witnesses to come forward, especially if they remember seeing a young man fitting Scott’s description in St Chad’s Road or Stone Hill Road or the wider Normanton area. Any sightings of Scott will be vigorously investigated.
When we spoke to Chief Superintendent Charlton earlier, he told us that officers on the task force are also keen to hear about other unusual occurrences in the area that night.
Brook braced himself for Charlton’s sickly smooth media voice.
‘Scott Wheeler is a happy and well-liked young
Brook padded wearily upstairs to bed, expecting no sleep, settled in his decision. Again.
Early that morning Brook tossed his smartcard on the passenger seat, relieved to see the barrier swing up. He hadn’t been to the car park of Derby Division’s headquarters at St Mary’s Wharf in many months, and he’d got it into his head that his parking privileges might have been withdrawn as part of his suspension.
Brook drove under the barrier to park his elderly BMW in the nearest empty bay, aware that, sooner or later, he’d have to run the gauntlet of derisive remarks from local officers. He killed the engine, at least content that the first wave had been postponed; he was hours early for his reinduction meeting. He poured tea from his flask and reclined, eyes closed, on to the cracked leather, listening to the Radio Derby news bulletin in the dark.
The search for Derby schoolboy, Scott Wheeler, continues and, four days after his disappearance on December the seventh, police are no closer to finding out what happened to the thirteen year old.
Scott, who is five feet eight inches tall with striking blond hair and blue eyes, was last seen by school friends at a party in St Chad’s Road, Normanton, last Friday evening at around eight o’clock. He was wearing black jeans, black Nike training shoes, a camouflage T-shirt with matching baseball cap and a blue hoodie with the words RIP CURL on the front.
A pupil at Derby Community School, Scott disappeared during a birthday celebration at the house of classmate Chelsea Chaplin. The party finished at nine p.m. and Scott’s mother, Beverley Wheeler, who lives in nearby Stone Hill Road, went to collect her son but when she arrived at the Chaplin house, Scott had vanished.
According to witnesses, Scott left the party of his own accord, apparently in an agitated state, though police have yet to verify this. So far, there have been no sightings of Scott after he left the house.
Mrs Wheeler said she was unaware of any problems her son might have been having or why he might have been agitated. She told Radio Derby that Scott is a popular young man and there is no suggestion that he was a victim of bullies. However, gang involvement has not been ruled out because Scott is the younger brother of Callum Wheeler, who was convicted last year of racially aggravated assault and wounding in a fight between rival Normanton gangs.
Needless to say, police are desperate to find witnesses to Scott’s disappearance and although there is no direct evidence of abduction, police say it cannot be ruled out.
At this stage, investigators have denied any connection with last year’s murder of Scott Wheeler’s friend and classmate, Joshua Stapleton, who died thirteen months ago, after an evening spent trick or treating with Scott. Joshua’s body was later found on the ground floor of a derelict house in Whitaker Road, Normanton. He had suffered severe head and spinal injuries.
Noel Williams, a fifty-five-year-old vagrant known to shelter at the house, was found guilty of the boy’s manslaughter and began a twenty-year sentence in April this year.
Chief Superintendent Mark Charlton says Derby Constabulary are interviewing everyone connected with the party but they urgently need witnesses to come forward, especially if they remember seeing a young man fitting Scott’s description in St Chad’s Road or Stone Hill Road or the wider Normanton area. Any sightings of Scott will be vigorously investigated.
When we spoke to Chief Superintendent Charlton earlier, he told us that officers on the task force are also keen to hear about other unusual occurrences in the area that night.
Brook braced himself for Charlton’s sickly smooth media voice.
‘Scott Wheeler is a happy and well-liked young
Similar Books
